You're Blinded Far Worse Than I
by AlwaysPhantasmagoria
Summary: When Toph and Aang find a cabin in the middle of nowhere, they discover a family unlike any other they've known. Aang must decide which role is more important, Avatar or Friend?
1. Up On the Cliff

**- You're Blinded Far Worse Than I -**

_Please oh please post a review! This might turn into a Taang story later on, but I'm not sure yet. ENJOY! _

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Characters: Toph (12); Aang (12) _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender and I do not own anything from the original Avatar either. I only own my characters (which are not in this chapter) so just read and have fun!_**  
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**Chapter 1— Up On the Cliff  
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The early summer sun blazed upon the land, creating terribly uncomfortable conditions for earthbending practice. However, it had to be done. Toph was a tough teacher for Aang, who needed to master earthbending soon, but her persistence was greatly appreciated. 

"Again!" Toph shouted in an authoritative tone.

"Toph…" Aang whined, "too tired…"

"Come ON, Twinkle Toes!" Toph gave a hard stomp with her foot, pushing Aang over and over.

"Okay, okay, again," Aang gave in. He took his stance and waited calmly. Toph walked over to him and tied a black cloth around his eyes, to preventing him to see.

"Now…" she let her voice trail off as she made a few quick motions with her hands and some hard juts of her feet. Two huge boulders came towards Aang from the front while a huge wall of rock came out of the ground behind him. Instinctively he twisted his ankle at the wall behind him, crumbling it to the ground. The boulders were trickier, Aang had to wait and listen and know without looking. Suddenly he stuck his hand out awkwardly, sending one boulder flying back, but the other slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he tumbled backward.

Toph heaved a great sigh and walked over to Aang, who was lying on his back. "You've got to listen!" she said to him.

"I was listening," Aang mumbled weakly.

"Listen HARDER!" she shouted, the sound reverberating off the canyon walls.

"Can I puh-lease take a break? We've been working all morning," Aang asked.

"Fine, you did well Twinkle Toes."

"I wonder when Katara and Sokka are going to come make with lunch," Aang questioned.

"Who knows? Sokka probably got stuck in a hole again!" she laughed at the thought.

Aang ran over to the edge of the canyon and peered at the distance. They were camped at the end of the ditch, where the land finally comes back together. Over to the side a few brown blades of grass were blowing in the dusty wind. The ground was dry from lack of rain and the sky was without a cloud. The land was flat and only a few snakes every now and then scuttled across the sand. On the other side, near where Toph was still practicing earthbending, there seemed to be a cliff. It descended into the canyon, and was probably at the highest point drop around the edges. It was also the only place where olive green grass seemed to grow. A couple yards over, there was a cabin that had— _Wait a cabin!_ Aang thought.

"Look!" Aang pointed to the log house, "A cabin!"

Toph, whom sensed the structure before but hadn't said anything, glanced at Aang. The building was situated in such a manner that no one could possibly get there, except an Airbender. "Aang, no one probably lives there," she said sensibly.

"We can just check it out and see if anyone is there. Come on, we can fly over on my glider!" he grabbed his staff and twirled it so the wings were pushed out. "Hold on to my shoulders, Toph," he instructed. Toph obeyed and in seconds Aang had taken flight. It wasn't far however so there wasn't really any danger. They landed quickly and ran to the front door. Aang knocked sharply and hoped that someone would answer.

The door creaked opened slowly, in a surprised manner. From where they were, Toph and Aang could here voices and noises. But the person who answered the door was a person neither Toph nor Aang expected to meet.

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	2. An Awkward Encounter

**- You're Blinded Far Worse Than I - **

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_Characters: Toph; Aang; Kaisha; Coda; Sarite; Maru; Katara; Sokka__  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from Avatar nor any of the scenes/history, only Kaisha, Coda, Sarite, and Maru. If you wish to use any of these charcaters **ASK ME FIRST**! Thank you.  
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**Chapter 2- An Awkward Encounter  
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The woman whom answered the door looked both confused and wondering. Her black hair was straight though matted with sweat, her light gray eyes were bright and her clothes were clean and nicely worn. Behind her, Toph could sense three children, one whom seemed to be her age, one a bit younger, and the last couldn't have been older than five or six. They seemed to be fighting about something, though she couldn't hear what. 

The lady looked up and down at both Aang and Toph, as if inspecting them. She took a mental note of Toph's earth kingdom style dress and Aang's tattoos. Finally she spoke. "What are you children doing out alone?"

Aang answered, "Hi! I'm Aang, the Avatar, and this is-"

"Toph," Toph said clearly, "I'm an earthbender."

"Oh," the woman said with interest, "Would you like to come in, lunch is almost ready,"

Toph grinned and replied, "Sure! We'd love to!"

They were seated at a wooden table where the woman introduced herself as Kaisha. "This is Coda, he's twelve, Sarite, she's ten, and Maru, she's six," she added, touching the head of each child as she spoke.

As Kaisha ladled soup to them, Toph asked, "Why do you live out here all alone?"

"It's better for the kids," she replied, "and it's easier to teach them earthbending."

"You can earthbend?" Aang asked the oldest, Coda.

"Yeah, my sisters and I love it!" he answered.

"Maru, even you can earthbend?" Toph playfully asked.

"Yep!" she said happily.

"Cool, I can too!" Toph told them.

"Can you, Aang?" Sarite added.

"Hmm-up," he swallowed his bread, "Yup! But not as good as Toph… she's teaching me!"

The three smiled politely, and then looks of confusion turned on their faces when a bang was heard on the door.

While Kaisha got the door, Aang continued, "and guess what's different about Toph's earthbending,"

"Um, I don't think so," Kaisha mumbled to whomever was knocking, then she slammed the door.

"Who was that?" Toph questioned.

"Uh, no one," she quickly said, her eyes not meeting Toph's, "now what were you saying Aang?"

"We were talking about Toph," he responded, "Guess what's different about her!"

"What?" Maru said.

"I'm blind," Toph perked up.

Kaisha looked up from her soup and coughed into her napkin. "Yes, that's... interesting. Um, well, I think you ought to be going now, don't you? It's getting late."

"But mother," Sarite mentioned, "they've only been here an hour! Wouldn't it be polite for them to stay?"

"Now dear, I'm sure they have something to do and people to see!"

"No, not really," Toph said, giggling a bit.

"Well," Kaisha said, practically shoving Toph and Aang out the door, "we'll see you again some time, now won't we."

Toph heard the door slam behind her. They saw Katara and Sokka eating berries around a fire with Appa lying down next to them, "Hey!" Sokka said, "Come over, this is good!"

Aang started to walk over to Sokka, oblivious of what just happened but Toph grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to one of the open windows of Kaisha's house. They knelt down, but Aang wasn't prepared to hear what he was going to.

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_This is mostly the boring talking stuff, but the next chapter is going to be better! Try to guess why Kaisha practically pushed Toph and Aang out so quickly, and also why it seems like she wouldn't let Katara and Sokka in or talk to them and stuff. Most of it will be explained in the next chapter... grrr could someone give me an idea for a Zutara fan fic?_


	3. Untold Secrets

**You're Blinded Far Worse Than I**

_Sorry I took so long! I was having writer's block, lol. _**  
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**Characters: Toph (12); Aang (12); Kaisha; Coda; Sarite; Maru; Katara; Sokka 

Disclaimer: You're crazy if you think I own Avatar: the Last Airbender, because I don't. Nor do I own any of the original characters. I do own Kaisha, Coda, Sarite, and Maru so do not steal them please! Ask first!

**Chapter 3— Untold Secrets**

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Aang couldn't see what was going on behind the blinds, and he doubted they could see him, but he ducked down to listen for the music of voices. Toph just sat with her back against the house, her eyes wouldn't glance to Aang when he gasped nor to the window if she heard another word. They stayed in a silence waiting for something to be spoken. 

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_Inside the house…_

"Why'd you have to do that!" Sarite exasperatedly asked her mom.

"Honey, you know what I've told you before," Kaisha replied warily.

Sarite sighed and obviously irritated recited, "Others who aren't like yourself, aren't good enough to befriend yourself… you've told me dozens of times." Sarite rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "You're the only one who wants a life like this."

Coda spoke up from where he was sitting, "But they were earthbenders, though the Avatar was born with the air nomads…"

Kaisha glared strictly at Coda, "The girl was _blind_," she said, saying 'blind' like a contagious disease.

Coda scowled and turned away.

Maru wasn't old enough to understand what the fight was about entirely, yet she said to her mother, "I saw the big kids who came to our house. They were water people?"

Kaisha nodded, "Yes, dear, and always remember that we only allow Earth Kingdom citizens—"

"Yeah, yeah we all know it mom!" Sarite said, throwing her hands up, "We don't let Water Tribe, Fire Nation, Air Nomads, non-benders, deaf kids, outcasts, travelers, and apparently blind girls in our house! They must have some sort of plague that only we have to worry about, right? They're so terrible for being different, right? Gosh, mom!"

The room was quiet for a moment then Coda mentioned, "And we always have to lie to people, right?"

"Hm?"

"You said we live here because it's 'good for the kids and it's easier to earthbend'- that's lying," he explained.

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_And back outside…_

Aang was sitting in non-belief at what he was hearing- they were prejudice against everyone and everything different from them, or at least Kaisha was. He looked at Toph since she was being bashed harder then he was, _I guess it's because I'm the Avatar or something, _he thought. She was just leaning against the wall, her ashen green eyes shining, like always, but with something else in them- Anger? Embarrassment? Sadness? There were no tears on her face, nor any direct emotion expressed through either her eyes or face.

Aang was bewildered at the lack of almost any feeling that radiated from Toph. Usually she was upbeat or at least showing of some emotion. But she just glanced up and Aang when she knew he was looking at her. "Didn't you hear them?"

"Of course I did, I'm not deaf," she replied in a flat monotone, though in an unusual quiet pitch of her voice.

"Well, aren't you mad or, or anything?" he asked in a hushed whisper. A/N: Remember the window's open :)

Toph shrugged, "I don't know."

Aang was perplexed at her statement, "Why?"

Toph shrugged again, "It's happened before, nothing exceptionally new."

Aang's face burned a bit with unease, "But you don't sound surprised or anything,"

"Aang, I figured as much from them," Toph said simply, "Kaisha wouldn't look me in the eye, and I'm surprised she waited to throw me out,"

"Well, I don't think that's right to not like someone because of something as stupid as being blind!" he stated, standing up.

"Of course it's not right, Twinkle Toes," she said, Aang helping her to her feet, "But there's nothing we can do,"

"Oh yeah? Watch," Aang headed for the door.

A loud, low rumble roared through the ground. "Aang, wait," Toph said, "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Toph knelt down, lying her fingertips on the dusty ground. She felt more vibrations, stronger than the first and for a longer time.

"What is it?"

"I don't know… it feels like… like thunder in the earth," Toph tried to explain.

A deafening crack split the air, creating a hanging silence that lasted a minute or two. Another thunderous crack burst out, sounding closer by the minute, ringing in Toph's ears. This time, it wouldn't end, one after another, explosions and eruptions interrupted the mid-afternoon serene land. Nothing was heard over the blasts, the sound filled Toph and Aang's mind, blocking out all other noise.

Aang looked over at Katara and Sokka, whom were trying contemplate what was happening. He gestured to them, as words couldn't be heard, to come near Toph, who was still feeling the vibrations. Without warning, a blast shook the ground, a rush of wind sprayed dirt everywhere, the world seemed to evaporate around the four of them, the air hung with an endless clamor of nothing… and then everything went silent.

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_Ooh, cliffhanger, haha! Lol, I just love torturing people!_


End file.
